The game got off to a wild start and produced the best 24 minutes yet of the Finals as the Warriors and Cavaliers each displayed some incredible shot-making that left the teams tied 61-61 at halftime.
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“They had two great games, two breakout games”. He gets to be the returning hero, freed from the clutches of the mean National Basketball Association that listened to LeBron James’ complaints, helping his team to a road victory and proving once and for all how important he is to this Warriors team. It didn’t matter who was matched up on either player.
Golden State could not hit their threes and close the gap, with Cleveland pulling away and extending the series. But before that ballot and the 10 or so others like it were folded neatly and packed for Cleveland, like everything and everyone else associated with these Finals for Game 6 Thursday night (9 ET, ABC), a unusual thing happened. The Cavs, thanks to an impressive 112-97 win, would live to play another night. But the Warriors sorely missed Green, who was suspended after striking James in the groin in Game 4.
That scenario never transpired, if only because James and Irving willed it out of existence.
“The main thing is that we were able to give ourselves another chance”, James said. “He’s a guy who you have to account for in a lot of ways”. We must not be satisfied and think of celebrating our win in the Game Five. Each win is not as monumental as it seems, every loss is not going to end the world. An array of drives to the rim, long threes from the deep wing and midrange jumpers over helpless defenders all gave Irving’s game a full sense of breadth and awe. He could execute whatever he wished because the Warriors, constituted as they were with this limited lineup, were incapable of preventing his relentlessness.
The Warriors were 3-for-21 from 3-point range in the second half.
“To repeat a performance like this would definitely be tough”, Irving wisely admitted.
“There were a couple of switches that we were very lazy on”.
Where would the Cavs be without Irving?
Cavaliers opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run but the Warriors closed the gap because Klay Thompson flat out could not miss – he had 18 points on 5-of-5 shooting in the second alone. J.R. Smith had 10 points then, but he would not score again the rest of the evening.
Warriors: The Warriors had won their last four against the Cavs on their home court, outscoring Cleveland by a combined 48 points in Games 1 and 2 of these Finals. Golden State scored 23 in the third quarter and just 13 in the fourth, looking deflated and spent as the clock mercifully ticked down.
There was, of course, some method to this madness, as they were playing without Green, their renewable energy source that burns brighter than anyone else on this roster.
“Just Kyrie being special”, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said.
“He’s an important player for them”, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said earlier in the series, which his team still leads 3-2.
“We get to go back home, and we’ve played well there all year”, Love said.
Both players scored 41 points with near-impeccable games - the kind of performances on which legacies are built.
“We’re just happy we got another day”. Not when James controlled the floor with 41 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three blocked shots – owning or sharing the game-high totals in each of those categories. The bench surely did not show up, scoring just 15 points on 5/20 shooting. All the Cavaliers have is James, Irving and Tristan Thompson.
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Booed every time he touched the ball, LeBron James cut through Golden State’s defense and made layups look easy. They didn’t bail out Green for his costly lapse in judgment. They’re not going to lay down. And now the Cavaliers still have hopes of another historic achievement: becoming the first team to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the Finals. Looking ahead in any capacity would be foolhardy. FIRST time for two teammates in #NBAFinals history.
